For me, Waterworld was the first time my teenager cynicism about
movies outran the dominant culture and cycled back to the beginning.
What I mean is, I didn't see the Biggest Flop ever for a few years.
Then, when I did see it on video, it was just another dumb action
movie that was fun to watch, no different from all those other dumb
action movies.
If Costner had figured out a way to make that dumb action movie
without loosing records amounts of money, it might not have had a name
that has lasted this long.
I will now try to google for a good example.